Ice Ice Baby
by aniuwolfe
Summary: While on his way to school, Riku saves a little girl from falling into a frozen pond and winds up falling in himself. Axel sees this and decides he can't just sit by and do nothing. Not really AkuRiku. Maybe implied. Maybe. One-shot.


At some of the breaks, the point of view switches. I want to try out writing in both Riku's and Axel's point of view. Why? Because I can. :) If you don't want to be confused, I'd advise you remember that. Oh, and both Axel and Riku live in apartments. Why? Once again, because I can :)

And Axel is majoring in Language. Why? Well, I think you know by now. :D And the fact that I had an English assignment that involved putting fifty hard vocabulary words in something you wrote. So I decided to put them in here. I'm sorry if you don't understand some of the words in here. If I get a review that says someone wants me to put up the list of definitions, I will. On a second chapter. XD

Okies, now onto the fic.

Oh, wait. Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. Even though Riku is being held hostage in my closet. There.

Hope you enjoy.

"It's freaking cold out here…" Riku grumbled to himself as he wrapped his coat tighter around his shivering body. The brick road was frosted with ice, and he had to watch his step to make sure he didn't slip and fall. He glanced around at his surroundings, even though he knew all of them like the back of his hand. He'd travelled this way to the college campus since he had moved into his apartment six months ago. It was nice having his own place, but it got lonely. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone. One of the voices in the back of his mind reminded him how boring Christmas was going to be, but he just pushed the voice back to the dark corners of his mind to get dusty and die. He wasn't religious, so he didn't feel the need to celebrate it. Yeah. Just keep telling yourself that. Riku shook his head quickly and forced the second, usually more sarcastic voice back into the same corner at his little buddy where they could both shun Riku for ignoring them.

His feet carried him down the road, his mind allowing his body to go on autopilot as far as direction was concerned. Most of his thoughts were now focused on anything but the cold. Damn. Not working. He shivered and rubbed his arms in a feeble attempt at getting them a bit warmer, but to no avail. He sighed, frustrated. He brought his mind back to the path to discover that he had already made it to the gate of the park he loved to cut through. And although he hated the cold, he could never say he disliked the view. Landscapes covered in snow-the park especially-made him wish he knew how to paint. He could draw well, but only with pencil and charcoal. He'd better be good with them, because that's what he was majoring in. He'd always wished he had the patience to paint, though. Give him a pallet covered in paint and you might as well just expect a finger painting. He really was that bad; although his finger paintings weren't all that bad. He just couldn't use a brush for some reason. The cause was unknown to him.

Riku walked along the side of the thin metal black gate and looked around. He turned his head to the right, gazing over at the frozen pond. It looked kind of run down and murky at summertime but it always looked beautiful frozen over. This was only Riku's second year living in this city, but he felt like it was much longer. He came to this park almost everyday, regardless of whether he had class or not; he always thought the place had a very calm atmosphere. He stopped walking and stood, taking in his surroundings. Through the winter chill, he could hear birds conversing, children giggling, and trees rustling. He turned away from the lake and gazed at the nearby trees, which were shifting beneath the weight of the piles of snow invading their bare, brittle branches.

Deciding he had enough time to drift for ten minutes or so-he always left early in case he wanted to do such things-he leaned against the conveniently placed fence, which was just ending, and stared out at the scenery, his mind drifting. For some reason, his mind took him back to yesterday, where he turned down that girl…what was her name? Selphie? He barely remembered. She had ridiculous hair, though-he remembered that, the voices mocked, snickering. Riku hushed them. The way her face dropped when he turned her down made him feel a little guilty; but then again she wasn't the first girl he turned down. For some reason, he just didn't like the thought of being in a relationship right now. College was far too busy, and there was so much pressure when in a relationship…the thought made Riku wince. No, he certainly didn't want to be in a relationship right now.

His mind drifted through various topics, such as the essay on the methodology of drawing tree-scapes he'd written last night. He thought about that Selphie girl again, but quickly tore his mind away from that subject again. The way she squealed over every little thing, or the way she clung to his arm whenever possible irked him to the point where even seeing her face in his mind automatically made him want to change the subject.

His mind then drifted to his cat, Sora. He was a calico, a _male _calico, and had bright blue eyes. When Riku found the kitten on the side of the road, seeing his eyes gazing hopefully around for food or warmth had automatically captured Riku's heart. He remembered he had darted across the street and, not thinking about anything else but that kitten, jogged home and wrapped it in a warm towel and gave it a home. That cat was practically his only true friend. Sure, he had buddies that he hung around with while in class, but he wasn't the type to get close to someone so easily. So these people pretty much just stayed his friends only while in class; he had never called any of them, and didn't plan to. Sora was the only one he felt he could actually express himself around. It sounded ridiculous even to himself-the only "person" he could actually trust was his cat. For some reason, however, it had always been like that. Riku had an affinity for animals. The cat's namesake also helped Riku unlock his heart around him as well.

Thinking about the cat's namesake brought with it an air of depression that sank cold and deep within Riku's heart. He had named Sora after his dear friend, who had died in a car accident with his brother, Roxas. Riku didn't really know Roxas very well, but he cared for Sora more than he'd liked to admit. Seeing his friend's smiling face made Riku's heart cringe painfully, and he soon felt tears lingering in his eyes. He shook his head, willing the image from his brain-temporarily, of course- and wiped the unshed tears away hastily.

Riku looked around the park for a few more seconds, the emotions welling up inside of him making him wish he hadn't stopped to let his mind wander. That's usually how it went. Riku let his mind wander, and it always drifted to _him._The voices in the back of his mind always badgered him about why he decided to name his cat after a person that died and that he knew he would get upset over. Riku always answered with the same response: because he owed it to Sora to honor his life.

Riku sighed. He decided he didn't think today was going to be a good day. It was already depressing.

He stood. Clenching his fists in finality, he started to walk towards the exit of the park, the cold not so biting anymore.

Riku then paused. Something urged him to stop walking. The voices mocked him for thinking such things, but he ignored him. Something felt _off. _The feeling of disquietude got stronger, so he decided to act upon it.

He looked around; then his eyes fell upon the frozen pond; something had caught his attention in the corner of his eye.

There was a little girl-she was wearing a little pink hat-kneeling to try and get her doll, which had fallen dangerously close to the frozen surface of the pond. Riku watched in slight worry as the girl inched her way closer to the doll, which was resting gently on the edge of the frozen water. Her tongue sticking out in concentration, the little girl reached her gloved hands out to the arm of her most likely most treasured possession. She stood on her tip-toes, anxious to get her doll and not wanting to fall in the freezing water-

Then her foot slipped.

She let out a small cry of alarm. Not loud enough to attract the attention of the adults that were chatting on the bench yards away, their backs turned away from the pond. But Riku saw.

He heard his own voice as we cried out and ran, determined to help the little girl who had been left all alone. Lucky the concrete path was so close to the pond, those exiled voices said, both sneaking out of the back corner, their curiosity and worry taking over. Riku didn't hear them this time. He barely even saw his surroundings. He saw a flash of red, but that was it. His entire being was focused in that pond. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart, and crunching of the grass beneath his feet, and his own yelling.

He reached the girl faster than he'd ever thought possible.

Moving with celerity he didn't even know he had, he reached the girl and pushed on her shoulder, shoving her back from the side of the pond. It was then that he remembered that the pond was obnoxiously deep. That's why people weren't allowed to swim in it. It dropped off very quickly due to hurricane damage three years ago and the fact that an irrigation ditch used to reside there. As the voices reminded him of this pointless information, Riku felt his shoulder hit the hard yet frangible ice.

It felt as though he was being stabbed by thousands of needles. He was underneath the water, he realized, but too late. He gasped from the shock, then attempted to breathe in. Idiot.

His lungs burned, and he flailed his abeyant arms in an attempt to get to the surface. He was vaguely annoyed at how slowly is limbed were moving. But he didn't focus on that. All he knew was he needed to breathe. His lungs were on fire, and his head and heart throbbed painfully. His eyes were open. The voices in the back of his mind were yelling, annoyed at how deep the stupid pond was. They yelled for him to move faster, higher, anything. But Riku barely heard them. He only heard his heartbeat, which was steadily growing slower and slower…

'I just hope the girl is okay…' He thought, his eyes falling shut. For once, the voices were silent.

-------------

Axel grunted, wrapping his black scarf tighter around his neck. Stupid school. How come college didn't get snow days?

He turned around and glanced at the yellow lab that was sitting patiently behind him, seeing him off. Axel bent his knees and petted the dog's head fondly.

"See ya Rox," he said. Roxas let his tongue hand out of his mouth, pleased with the attention.

Turning, Axel flung open the door, waiting for the gelid air to hit him. It didn't disappoint. Growling, Axel stepped down the stairs of his apartment and into the frigid air. His scarf blowing behind him, Axel wrapped his coat tighter around himself and started off, walking down the few steps onto the road, where he'd cut through the park. He would have driven, of course, if his car hadn't been worth the 300 dollars he paid for it-the damn thing wouldn't start because it was too cold. His thoughts still angry at his crappy poor excuse for a truck, he reached the icy road. His long legs strolled down the street at a quick pace, his black coat flapping behind him. A red undershirt, wristbands, chains and tight denim pants completed his wardrobe; not typical clothes for a passing college student, he knew. Most people glanced at him and his black eyeliner and assumed he was born to be a lazy failure. Lazy he might be, but Axel was really very smart. He just didn't openly show it off. He could care less what people thought of him. They also probably wouldn't have guessed he was majoring in Advanced Language. He enjoyed it, and he could never explain why. He just did. The confused look people gave him when he said things like, "You're gonna ablate your soda all over my desk, buddy," or, "Wow! At gloaming, this back alley has an eldritch feel to it, doesn't it?" He just loved seeing the blank stares he received. He'd met a few people who used the same diction as he. And they usually shared a conversation that didn't have Axel begging for the brain cells that were threatening to leave this world to stay for his own sanity.

His thoughts staying on the same track, he continued to walk down the street he usually took to his college. He soon spotted the back gate that bordered the park and turned, heading towards the scenic…place.

Glancing at his watch, he realized that, if he didn't hurry, he'd be late. And he didn't want another run-in with Mrs. Malone, the harshest teacher he'd ever had. Her tongue was like a whip, and if you were late she'd make sure and tear you to pieces with guilt.

Picking his pace up so that he was almost jogging, he neared the exit of the park, thinking back on the research paper he'd finished at four thirty this morning.

Then something got in his way. Literally.

A boy, about the age of seventeen by the looks of him, ran by him so fast he almost smacked Axel with his elbows. Axel was sure that, if he didn't see the boy running, he would have collided with him.

Axel let out a curse of annoyance and watched the boy run towards the lake. Only when he followed with his eyes and looked at the lake as well did he see why the teen was in such a hurry.

A little girl had fallen and slid out into the dangerous parts of the ice. Because she was so light, the ice didn't break on contact. But it would break, and soon, Axel knew. He watched in frozen awe as the boy reached the girl, pushed her on the shoulder and managed to push her out of the way just as the ice gave way beneath her. From the act, however, the teen had maneuvered his body so that it would have been impossible to move himself out of the way in time, resulting in him falling into the frozen lake instead of the little girl. The crack of the ice and the heavy splash of the boy falling into the glacial water spurred Axel into action. He bolted for the pond as everyone stared, awestruck by what just happened. Axel barely noticed them.

He ran to the whole in the ice, and saw, t his horror, that he could no longer see the teen that had just fallen through moments before.

"Dammit!!" He yelled and plunged his hand into the frozen water and searched in vain for the boy.

He moved down the bank a few feet and moved the snow out of the way. He saw a glimmer beneath the surface.

'_The guy's hair!' _Axel's brain screamed and he flung his hand into the ice and felt around the water. He bit back a curse, the water numbing his hand on contact. He suddenly felt something and immediately grabbed it. It turned out to be a sleeve of a coat. Getting a firmer grip, he grabbed the wrist and hauled it up with all of his strength. The whole that his arm had made cracked and widened, until the entire boy was though the ice and in Axel's arms. His eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing.

Panicking, he looked around, only to see blank stares.

"Idiots!" He screamed and, following his instincts, took off in the direction of his house. Since it was so near and he knew how to take care of hypothermia, he knew that would be the best thing to do. It would take too long to reach a hospital; the boy would probably be dead by the time he got there.

Axel glanced back at the lake hurriedly. The little girl was sitting by the edge of the lake, tears pouring down her face.

He turned away, and ran straight to his house.

-------------

"Dammit…why me?!" Axel practically screamed as he galumphed up all three steps leading to his apartment. Holding the shivering boy with one arm, he fumbled in his pocket and quickly yanked his keys out and, his hand automatically finding the correct key-there were only four on the ring, so it wasn't that hard-shoved it into the lock and turned. Pushing on the door roughly with his shoulder while turning the doorknob, Axel rushed into his warm apartment and, shutting the door in a flurry, practically ran into his bedroom. Axel felt the presence of his faithful dog behind him but ignored it for the time being. Boy was he glad for his old man right then and being forced to work with him in the firehouse for two years. Being the son of an accomplished firefighter, Axel knew the dangers of Hypothermia, especially when the hypothermic person was only semi-conscious.

His arms freezing from the wetness of the tremulous boy that was still in his arms, Axel ran into his bedroom and lowered the silver-haired teen onto the carpet floor gently. He didn't want to put him on the bed covered in wet clothes-he'd need the bed dry and warm when he got the teen out of the hot water. He knelt and pressed onto his chest, making sure he didn't have any water in his lungs. He repeated several times, then the boy harshly coughed, sending water droplets out of his mouth and onto his chest, his eyes tightly shut in pain. Knowing the boy could breathe better now, Axel bolted for the bathroom and quickly turned the faucet of the bathtub on to near the hottest setting it could be, then, checking the water with his hand, stood and walked quickly back to the teen. He was mildly surprised to see Roxas lying next to the boy, licking his cheek gently. Axel smiled at his dog and rubbed his ears quickly, showing his thanks. He bent down and picked the boy up once more and carried him into the steamy bathroom. 'I'm so glad he's not that heavy…' Axel thought as he lowered the boy to the floor. Unabashed, he stripped the boy down to his boxers and, throwing the half frozen clothes into the corner of his bathroom, lowered the trembling boy into the water, making sure to keep the boys arms and legs out of the water. He pressed his hand to the boy's pale chest, his eyebrows coming together in worry as he felt the shivers that racked the boy's frame. The chest was almost lubricous to the touch, having been exposed to the cold weather outside that froze some of the freezing water to the boy's chest. He rubbed it a bit and poured some hot water on his chest, trying to remove all ice from the frame. Then he sat and waited.

Roxas came into the bathroom, and sat next to his owner, gazing at the tub. Axel absent-mindedly patted his dog's head, not willing to tear his eyes away from the quiescent boy. He removed his hand from the boy's chest and reached down and opened the boy's eye, looking at his pupils. They were dilated, but not fully. "Well that's a relief at least," Axel said. His eyes went over the boys face, trying to guess how old he was. The age seventeen rang out to him, but he could have been as old as nineteen. He looked at the boys blue tinted lips, then to his forehead, which was plastered with that silver hair of his. He raised his hand and moved the boy's hair out of his eyes. The incipient fever was no surprise to Axel as he touched the boy's forehead and felt it was hot. He had to forfend the emotions that attacked him at the sight of the poor boy-well, teen, shivering in his bathtub. Not liking the idea of just sitting and doing nothing, he stood and got towels and carefully placed them on the boy. The water soaked into them immediately, and Axel hoped that would warm him faster.

The ticking from the clock in his room rang through the silence, and Axel found himself looking at the watch around his wrist. Two minutes. Three minutes. Five minutes.

At the five minute mark, he leaned forward and stuck his hand in the water. He pulled it out quickly and cursed under his breath. It was already cold.

"That was stupid, Axel. _Stupid!" _He growled at himself through clenched teeth. He had been reckless. He turned on the water, and cursed loudly when he turned on the faucet to receive cold water.

"Damn apartment! Damn heating system! How the hell am I supposed to keep this kid alive if the entire world is determined to keep him cold?!" He yelled at nothing in particular. He bent and lifted the boy out of the water, careful not to jostle him around too much. The towels slid off of the boy's wet form and fell to the ground with a dull splat; Axel disregarded them.

Walking quickly to his bedroom, he laid the boy on the floor and took a towel and dried him off as well as he could. Axel cringed at the boy's boxers, which were already getting cold from the air. Blushing slightly at what he knew he needed to do, he stood and pulled out a pair of his own boxers. He walked back to the boy and, lifting the harshly shivering form, slid the wet boxers off. Trying his best not to look, he toweled the boy off more so he was completely dry, then pulled the dry boxers up onto the boy's hips. He then lifted him and carried him to his bed. He went to his closet and grabbed the thickest sweatpants and long sleeve shirt he could find and went back over to the bed and placed them onto the boy gently. His skin was still cold, though not as cold as it was, Axel was happy to note.

Once the teen was fully clothed, Axel lowered his beneath the covers and slid under the covers with him. Pulling the boy closer to him, Axel wrapped his arms around the cold body and willed his body heat to warm him. He didn't notice the faint blush that adorned his cheeks, nor the fact that he felt really comfortable in the position.

After laying like that for ten minutes, Axel let himself drift to sleep, the boy whose name he didn't even know yet cradled in his arms.

-------------

He was dreaming.

_Is this what it's like to be dead? _He heard his voice echo. He also heard the word, _"Kismet" _uttered over and over again. Everything was dark, and he was floating. The seemingly sempiternal drifting suddenly stopped, and his body twisted; his body turned until he was vertical and his feet touched the ground. He stumbled for a moment, then stood. Suddenly, birds erupted from the ground. In reflex, Riku brought his arms up to protect his face, but it was unnecessary. The birds simply flew by, the flock of them flapping their wings gracefully. Riku did not, however, lower his arms. As soon as the birds lifted from the ground, the surface he was standing on went from a dull black to a bright, illuminated menagerie of what looked like glass beneath his feet. He moved his arms from his field of vision and looked down at the mosaic and saw a face he certainly didn't expect to see.

Sora's face was smiling up at him, amidst a field of blue.

Riku felt his own face break into a small smile as he gazed upon his deceased friend's winsome face, the memories of his life flowing through his head.

_Blindfolded, Riku was lead into the kitchen by two arms; they didn't want him aberrant. __Riku stepped into the kitchen, expecting a soothing silence__ and the welcoming smell of the morning__. What he had not expected was a waylay of squeals, followed by numerous hands touching him. Surprised at the number of people in his kitchen, he immediately tensed, but then he realized what day it was. He then saw a flash of brown, followed by feeling a thud of a large object-a body, to be specific-thud into his stomach in a vicious hug._

_'Happy birthday, Riku!!'__ Sora shouted__, his badinage spreading to those around him. __Riku smiled at him. _

_'Thanks, Sora. You must have moiled over this one; last year's wasn't nearly as large__.' Riku wasn't going to say what he had been trying to imply with that sentence. He personally would have preferred if it had just been him and Sora together, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Sora threw this party for him, so he would enjoy it. _

_'Are you sure you like it? I looked for dark blue but they only had light blue, and I thought the streamers were a bit much, but Roxas said they looked okay, and I didn't know what kind of food to bring, so I brought some-hey! Why are you laughing at me?' Sora ceased his maundering enough to see Riku chuckling madly. He reached up and ruffled Sora's hair lightly._

_'You're so quixotic.'_

_'What does that mean?' Sora asked, looking confused. Riku shook his head, smiling. _

_'Never mind.'_

_'Well, are you sure that you-'_

_'Calm down. I love it.'__ Not a hint of cant was in his voice. Not that Sora knew what cant meant._

_He leaned forward and, ever so gently, touched his nose to Sora's. Sora giggled and smiled._

_'I'm glad.'_

Riku returned to the "present", his mind tearing itself away from the scene where he had to complete the onus task of blowing out his candles. He then glanced down below Sora, to where he saw the face of Kairi. Riku's expression changed from content to contemplation mixed in with annoyance.

Another scene flashed before his eyes…

_'But Riku-'_

_'Don't 'But, Riku' me! You'll be fine! Stop being such a milksop!'_

_'I'm not bring a…wait, a milksop?!' Sora replied, his sadness forgotten and replaced by humor and curiosity. _

_'Yeah, milksop. I saw it in one of my dad's old books!' a nine-year-old Riku stated proudly. __Sora beamed. _

_'But anyways. I'mma keep calling you a milksop if you keep refusing to tell Kairi you like her!'_

_'Riku! You're so mean!'_

The scene ended, and Riku found himself smiling slightly. Regardless of the bad times they might've had, he and Sora were the best of friends. Until the very end, it seemed. Riku became lachrymose, the thoughts of Sora's death filling him again.

"Sora…"

-------------

Axel turned over onto his other side and, blearily opening his eyes, found himself looking directly into the closed eyes of his rescue. His eyes were tightly shut, and it looked as though he was dreaming. Axel was about to nudge him awake, but then thought better of it, since he's probably still freezing and he needed sleep.

He touched the boy's arm and saw, to his dissatisfaction, he was still shivering. Axel moved closer to the boy and wrapped his arms around his shivering frame. A slight blush crept up Axel's face, and he had to remind himself that he was doing it just to keep the boy warm. Just to keep him warm…

The teen decided to interrupt these thoughts, however, by uttering something Axel never expected him to say in the most pule of voices.

"Sora…"

-------------

Red. That's what he saw. Riku's eyes opened to mere slits, but the light of wherever he was was blinding. And right below said blinding light was a mass of…red. Somewhere in the expanses of his throbbing head, he heard something of a tocsin ringing.

"…Am I in Hell?" He muttered, his voice coming out hoarse and scratchy. He winced at the sound.

"Nope. You're in my bedroom."

"Okay. Wait-wha…?" Okay, now he was really confused. He was in a bedroom? _Who's bedroom? _His head, which was already being taken over by a quickly impeding headache, throbbed painfully at the thought of lying in some stranger's bed. Eyes clearing up, Riku could now tell that the mass of red was actually _hair. _Fire engine red hair. He would have made fun of it if he had not been the victim of ridicule for his own silver locks. But his was _natural, _which this red was obviously _not. _Wait-why was he thinking about these things? Shouldn't he be thinking about the guy that was smirking down at him? And why he was in this stranger's home?

"You're probably confused. Here, let me spell it out for you. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Axel?"

"That's me," Axel's cocky voice came chiming through Riku's head, making the teen wince.

"Geez…do I have a hangover or something?"

"Nope. You just fell into a frozen pond. I saved your ass," Axel said, smiling brightly. Riku nodded, then did a harsh double-take. _He said WHAT?!_

"I fell into a _lake!? _Why don't I remember?" the silver-haired teen exclaimed, attempting to sit up. All he got was a hand pressed to his chest. Riku sighed in defeat, but didn't break eye contact with Axel. Axel just gave him a sort of _Well, how am I supposed to know why your memory sucks? _Look. Riku sighed and tried to bring his hand out of the blanket that was covering him in order to move his hair from in front of his eyes. He found the entire movement was taking way too long. As a matter of fact, his body wasn't moving normally at all…

"Actually, it was a _pond. _And you were hypothermic. Lucky for you, I just so happened to be on my way to school and I saw you. It was pretty noble, I'll give you that."

Riku's eyebrows rose. "What was noble?"

Axel snorted. "You saved that little girl. She dropped her doll near the lake, and she went to go and get it. She knelt, but slipped. You saw her and pushed her out of the way and slipped and fell in yourself. You're tellin' me you don't remember any of that?"

Riku lay there, thinking. He remembered he was walking to the campus, trying in vain to stay warm. Pigeons flew in front of him; he passed by the black spiked fence that blocked off part of the lake. He turned off into the town park and walked down the little concrete path, gazing in boredom at the other people present. He glanced to his right, where he saw the shimmering surface of the no longer blocked off pond. He thought about stuff that was best left to the deep corners of his mind, then he looked back at the frozen pond, a bad feeling creeping through him. Then he remembered. He saw a little girl with the pink hat slip; he heard her little cry; he saw himself leaping out and roughly pushing her out of the way, only to be welcomed by a harsh cracking, a thick solid object breaking beneath his side, then the frigid and dark oblivion of the lake...pond.

"Hey, you okay?"

Riku jolted out of his reverie and stared at Axel, who was looking at him with a faint worried look. Riku could tell he was trying to cover it up with a bored expression, but it wasn't working. Riku looked Axel down, and suddenly realized the red-head was sitting next to him, on his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of tan boxers. Riku's face immediately reddened, and he attempted to hide his face beneath the blankets that were covering him. Damn. Axel was sitting on them. All he managed to do was get the blanket as high as the bridge of his nose. Then unbidden thoughts flashed through his mind. Why was he in Axel's bed in the first place? Why did his head hurt so badly? And why in seven hells was this Axel dude only wearing boxers? Riku's thoughts continued on the train leading nowhere but perversion, not at all quelled by the chatty twosome at the back of his mind that had decided to return simply for the perverted thoughts; but it seemed Axel noticed and quickly brought said train to a crashing halt by throwing in, "Hey, don't get the wrong idea. You were hypothermic. There was only one way that I could raise our body temperature. It's not like I took advantage of you or anything…though I can't say you don't have a nice body…" Axel said, shrugging. Riku reddened at the statement, the implications that were contained in that one simple sentence overflowing his mind with countless amounts of dirty thoughts. He suddenly looked under the covers, where, sure enough, the sweats and long sleeve shirt he was wearing did not belong to him. He felt his blush increase and looked away, trying to keep a hold on what little pride he still had. Axel watched his, an eyebrow raised. He then shook his head lightly, apparently deciding he didn't want to know. The he turned back to Riku, his expression serious.

"Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah?" He had to concentrate to keep the flustered stutter from his voice.

"When you were unconscious, you…you kept muttering a name. Sora."

Riku jumped at the mention of his deceased friend. "I did?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did. Did…did this 'Sora'…" Axel paused, looked at Riku, then continued, this time looking at the blanket beneath him. "Did he have a brother by any chance?"

Okay, now Riku was officially freaked.

"What?!"

"Did he?!" Axel cried, almost desperately. Riku's eyebrows rose. He had not expected this. He attempted to swallow the lump in his throat and, hands shaking, nodded. Axel stared then turned away. He brought a hand up to his hair and ruffled it, making the messy locks even more of a jumble. "Jesus…"

"Why…how did you…?"

Instead of answering, however, Axel looked towards the opening of the bathroom, where a yellow lab lay, watching them. He whistled, then said, "C'mere, Rox."

Riku didn't know what to say.

"I…I don't…" He had hoped that his rejoinder didn't come out in such an apparent stutter.

Axel chuckled. "Do you know how funny you look right now? The rictus on your face is priceless." Riku just stared. Axel sighed and his expression dropped. "Odd, isn't it?" he said, his eyes on his dog's head where he was scratching his ears lovingly. "That we meet, like this, of all things. How close were you to Sora?"

Riku looked away, his mouth still covered by the blanket.

"He was my…my friend…"

Axel's eyebrows rose at Riku's hesitant tone; whatever the silver-haired teen had seemed to Axel, it certainly wasn't the mawkish boy before him. Sora must have been _really _close to him. Regardless of this fact, Axel pushed the subject once more.

"So, did you know Roxas?"

"Not very well. We never really talked," Riku replied dully, sounding exhausted. Axel suddenly felt bad for hounding the poor guy. He just woke up from almost drowning in a pond. A _frozen _pond.

"Here-why don't you just sleep, and we can talk about this later. I'm sure you're exhausted, and I'm sure this conversation isn't helping in the slightest."

"Thanks," Riku said. He meant it, too. He was tired.

Within the next minute, Riku was out again, and Axel, making sure Riku was wrapped in every blanket he owned, turned out the lights and slept on the couch.

-------------

"Well, well. I was wondering when you would show, Axel. Did you have fun playing the role of malinger?" An annoyed professor muttered from the doorway as Axel walked in. He scowled. He certainly wasn't in the mood for this Virago today. Being in college for three years now had already gotten him indurate from such scolding and glares as Prof. Malone liked to give. He walked over to the desk he usually sat in-the one in the back of the room- and waited for class to start. He pointedly ignored his professor's angry stare.

It had been three days since he had saved Riku from drowning, and he was doing much better. He had asked Axel after the second day to take him to his apartment, but Axel had refused. He needed to stay put. Riku asked again the morning of the third day, and Axel gave in; Riku _was _nineteen- he could take care of himself well enough. And so, after dropping off the healing teen, Axel had decided to go back to class, much to his regret. Today was already a bad day.

About ten minutes later, more students arrived and took their respective seats; none of them questioned Axel as to why he had been gone for three days. The way he saw them was exactly like this: they were all little know-it-alls who eschew anything they thought was out of the status quo. They took Umbrage to everything, and they're always talking about drugs or sex or something of than nature. Sure, he enjoyed sex. Who didn't? But he didn't need to have it every other day on his campus. He was there to get a degree, not sleep around with half the students. Then every campus had its diffident students; poor things. Not really. Like he said before, Axel didn't trouble himself with others.

Despite this, however, he didn't really care. He'd rather be left alone, to be honest. He didn't follow the mores of college life; he wasn't in a club, he didn't go to study sessions, he didn't live in a dorm; none of these mattered to Axel. He was fine with what he had.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted back to Riku. He reminded him a lot of Roxas, in a way: he looked as though he was insecure but was wearing a false front to protect others, just like Roxas once did. They also both thought of others before themselves. They both had that lost look in their eyes, one that stays there. It was as though his thoughts were always elsewhere.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Axel thought it was a bit strange that he was thinking this much about this boy. Sure, he saved his life and all, but was that really such a big deal? Okay, stupid question. But did it require him to think of the silver-haired teen all the time now? And the fact that Riku used almost as good syntax as he did made things a lot better in his eyes. Axel did like to have his intelligent conversations; just because he himself was a tad fainéant, didn't mean he'd let his vocabulary suffer the same fate. Granted, because Riku was taking art, of all things, he didn't know all the words Axel said; but that was okay with him, because Riku didn't reply with just a blank stare, like all of the others. He asked what the word meant.

For example, yesterday, when Axel was in the midst of bringing Riku a sandwich, he was interrupted by a phone call from one of his classmates. Axel had eventually hung up on him, because he was whining about their joint-essay being due in two weeks. He then tromped into his room, where Riku was curled in a ball reading a book. Axel dropped the inchoate sandwich on the foot of the bed and began ranting about how puerile his classmates were and how fop they were and just how ridiculous people were in general. And instead of simply nodding and accepting the fact that he didn't know what Axel was saying, Riku, the sick teenager, asked, "What does puerile mean?"

Axel's mouth had dropped open. Riku simply stared at him expectantly. Instead of chuckling at his lack of knowledge, Axel, for once in his life, was happy to explain what a word in his vocabulary meant.

Thoughts such as these brought Axel through to the end of class, where he gamboled out of the room, dodging Prof. Malone's angry curses.

-------------

"Hey, Riku? It's me. Open up?" Axel called through the dark brown wooden door of the silver-haired teen's apartment. There was the sound of thudding feet, a clanking of what sounded like two glasses hitting each other, then the sliding of a lock. The door opened in to reveal Riku, who's hair was tied up in a lazy ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"Thanks for letting me come," Axel said, feeling, for some reason, as though he'd obtained a bad case of gaucherie.

"Hey, it's no problem," Riku replied with a smile. He opened the door further and stepped out of the way so Axel could walk in. His first reaction upon seeing the apartment was jealousy.

The apartment was capacious and was full of nice furniture. There was a bar, a dining room table, and the floor was wood. Everything was very earthy; the counters were dark, the wood floor was a darker wood, and the furniture was all forest greens and burnt reds. The whole room had a very halcyon feel to it.

Axel couldn't help but exhaling in surprise. He hadn't expected this kid to live in such a nice place. He being three years older than Riku had a big part in the jealousy, considering he lived in a one bedroom apartment that didn't even have a working water heater.

He suddenly felt something lissome brush against his leg and looked down, surprised. He found himself looking down at a calico cat with bright blue eyes. The cat flicked its tail and rubbed its head against Axel's leg again. Before Axel could ask, however, Riku walked over and picked up the cat.

"Axel," he said. "Meet Sora."

Axel's eyes widened for a moment, then his face broke out into a huge smile. He laughed and rubbed the cat's head, awestruck by the irony of the whole situation.

There was suddenly another knock on the door. Axel glanced at Riku, who's eyebrows were raised in slight surprise. He clearly hadn't expected any other guests. Walking over to the door, Riku unlatched the lock; Axel followed, smiling.

The second Riku opened the door he was thrown back as he was assaulted by a vicious hug. Axel heard a faint cry of, "Katie!" But he didn't care. His attention was on Riku.

Riku was staring down at the form that was hugging him, his eyebrows disappearing beneath his long bangs.

"Are you okay big brother?" The little voice mumbled. Riku's expression went from confusion to realization.

"You're the little girl…" He said. She nodded and squeezed him tighter. She was wearing the same little pink hat.

"Thank you for saving me!" She cried into his shirt. Riku smiled gently and patted her head.

"You're welcome."

They stayed for a few minutes, the mom bowing and spewing thank you's out like a broken fountain, while Katie laughed and talked to Riku in a very fast voice about everything that flashed through the eight-year-old's mind. He laughed and smiled, looking a little awkward, Axel noted. He stood by the wall, letting the three talk.

After the mom thanked Riku one last time, and Katie hugged him again, they left. As soon as Riku closed the door, he turned to Axel and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Axel asked. Riku brought his hands to his hips.

"How did they get my address, _Axel?_" He asked. Axel looked at the ceiling.

"Well_ I _have no clue!" Axel replied. Riku's eyes closed to slits, and he glared at Axel disbelievingly. Axel merely avoided eye contact. Giving up, Riku sighed. "Whatever. I'm just glad she's okay," he said. Axel grinned, then walked over to the kitchen.

"Hey? You got any food in this place? I'm starved!"

After that, all awkwardness was gone. They had a cavil about what they were going to have for dinner, and whether or not Riku should give back the clothes that Axel had lent him. Axel refused to accept them.

They wound up watching three western movies, resulting in Axel leaving at two in the morning.

The two had become the closest of friends through a bond that both shared with one another, and their deceased friends stood on the sidelines, guiding their every step.


End file.
